The CSB said the West explosion was caused by an intense fire in a wooden warehouse building that led to the detonation of about 30 tons of ammonium nitrate stored in wooden bins. The building had no sprinklers or fire detection systems, so the fire was "intense and out of control".

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By ALISON SIDER

The US Chemical Safety Board said Thursday a West,
Texas, fertilizer facility that exploded earlier this year fell
between the cracks of the US safety regulation network that
needs to be updated.

"The CSB has determined that ammonium nitrate fertilizer
storage falls under a patchwork of U.S. safety standards and
guidance--a patchwork that has many large holes," chairman
Rafael Moure-Eraso told the US Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works.

The
committee's meeting Thursday was prompted by a string of
industrial accidents in recent months -- the fertilizer
facility explosion in West, which killed at least 14 people in
April; an explosion at a petrochemical plant in Geismar, La.
that killed two workers, and a fire at Chevron's Richmond,
Calif. refinery last year.

In a report of preliminary findings released Thursday, the
CSB said the West explosion was caused by an intense fire in a
wooden warehouse building that led to the detonation of about
30 tons of ammonium nitrate stored in wooden bins.

The building had no sprinklers or fire detection systems, so
the fire was "intense and out of control" by the time
firefighters were able to reach the site, the CSB said in its
preliminary findings report.

And volunteer firefighters were not made aware of the risk that
ammonium nitrate at the facility could explode --12
firefighters and emergency responders were killed when the
ammonium nitrate suddenly detonated while they were trying to
fight the initial blaze.

The storage conditions at the West facility did nothing to
mitigate the risk of a fire, but did not run afoul of existing
regulations, Mr. Moure-Eraso said. Other countries, like the
UK, recommend that buildings and bins where ammonium nitrate is
stored be noncombustible, he said.

"The fertilizer industry tells us that US sites commonly
store ammonium nitrate in wooden buildings and bins -- even
near homes, schools, or other vulnerable facilities. This situation must be
addressed," Mr. Moure-Eraso said.

A spokesman for West Fertilizer Co. declined to comment.

Facilities like the one in West fall outside of existing
federal process safety standards developed in the 1990s. Texas
and most counties have no mandatory fire code, and the West
facility did not have to comply with voluntary standards for
ammonium nitrate storage. Even those are out of date, the CSB
said in its report.

While the Occupational Safety and Health Administration does
regulate how ammonium nitrate fertilizer is handled, the
agency's regulations don't go far enough -- allowing wooden
bins and buildings to be used for storage and only requiring
sprinklers to be installed where high volumes of ammonium
nitrate are stored, the CSB said.

Mr. Moure-Eraso said that in 2002, the CSB recommended to
the Environmental Protection Agency that
it include reactive chemicals, like ammonium nitrate, in its
Risk Management Plan, designed to prevent catastrophic environmental damage from hazardous
chemicals.

US Sen. Barbara Boxer (D., Calif.) criticized the EPA for
not adopting that recommendation or taking steps to reduce the
risks posed by chemical facilities.

"I'm unsympathetic to the attitude I hear, which is a lack
of urgency. Lives are being lost, and recommendations were made
a long time ago, and nothing's happening," she said.

Sen. Boxer said the EPA can strengthen safety systems under
existing laws without new legislation.

Mr. Moure-Eraso also said federal agencies charged with
regulating and inspecting facilities for safety were "under
duress," without enough resources to devote to checking up on
the facilities they oversee. The CSB's
investigations into the West and Geismar incidents have
depleted the agency's resources, he said, and it cannot take on
any new investigative work.

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This is not the first time ammonium nitrate has exploded I remember as a boy seeing newsreel photos of bodies laid out after an ammonium nitrate explosion in Texas city. More recently on 9/12,the day after 9/11,an ammonium nitrate explosion wiped out a facility in Toulouse owned by Total Chemical. This incident was totally lost in the 9/11 events,but happened just the same.

J V N Rao06.29.2013

Sometimes regulators make recommendations based on new learning but do not follow it up needing such rude wake up calls to show some urgency. Why the compliance status was not checked wrt recommendation on including reactive chemicals in Risk Management Plan in 2002?

José Camarena R.06.28.2013

I use to work for Fertimex the former Mexican State Fertilizer Industry, and the amonium nitrate was inmediately bagged after prilling and stored under control; including gubernamental control due to it´s peculiarities.

Dominic Hubilla Getalada06.28.2013

All types of Hazardous chemicals like ammonium nitrate whether it is classified as fertilizers and much more if it is an explosive should not be stored in a wooden warehouse, the warehouse itself is a fire hazard and having no sprinklers in the warehouse make the condition very unsafe.